Devices for dermal abrasion of exposed in vivo tissue are known in the art. One such device is described in International Publication Number WO 2005/065032, “A High Velocity Liquid-Gas Mist Tissue Abrasion Device”, included herein by reference. This document also provides a general overview of the prior art of dermal abrasion and dermal abrasion devices.
Disclosed in the above referenced document is a device for dermal abrasion employing a high-velocity liquid-gas streaming mist. The disclosed device is particularly successful in overcoming the difficulty of stagnant boundary layers. When a fluid stream is employed to irrigate a tissue surface, a boundary layer is formed which is characterized by having a fluid velocity which decreases sharply adjacent to the flow surface, being virtually zero at the tissue surface. As a result, particles which are smaller than the thickness of the boundary layer of the fluid stream are often difficult or impossible to remove. The smallest particles in the boundary layer exhibit a drag resistance of a magnitude sufficient for these particles to remain attached to the surface and to resist being swept away by the fluid stream. The device disclosed in the above referenced document overcomes this difficulty, its liquid-gas streaming mist producing a boundary layer of minimal to negligible thickness.
However, neither the device disclosed in the above mentioned document nor other prior art devices discussed therein provide for a construction designed to easily allow treatment of abraded tissue with therapeutic substances in predefined dosages and/or concentrations. Additionally, the above mentioned device and other prior art devices require relatively large liquid and gas sources, suitable for use with a plurality of patients. These sources are positioned distant from the device necessitating the use of connecting tubes which inter alia impede use, especially one-hand use, of the devices.